1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable assembly double stabilized screen door.
2) Description of Related Art
Screen doors have long been an accoutrement to homes. A screen door can refer to a hinged storm door (cold climates) or hinged screen door (warm climates) covering an exterior door, or a screened sliding door used with sliding glass doors. In any case, the screen door incorporates screen mesh to block flying insects or airborne debris such as seeds or leaves from entering, and pets and small children from exiting interior spaces, while allowing for air, light, and views. The first screen doors were made using cheesecloth. After the Civil War, wire cloth was coated with paint and sold for window screens.
Various types of screen doors exist. Aluminum framed sliding screen doors are generally constructed by two methods: rollformed or extruded. In both cases the rectangular rollformed or extruded shapes are joined together into a door frame using metal corners or screws.
Rollformed screen doors are formed from “rollforming” thin aluminum sheets into a rectangular shaped door frame which incorporates a screen channel to hold the window screen material. Rollformed aluminum sliding screen doors are the least expensive to produce because they can be manufactured from thin aluminum sheet formed into a relatively strong rectangular shape.
Rollformed screen doors have mitered corners into which a steel or aluminum alloy corner is forced using a friction fit. If a steel corner is used, the rollformed sections are often pierced or staked into the corners to help secure the corners together. If aluminum alloy corners are used, the corner relies on its friction fit alone to hold the door frame together.
The weakest point of a rollformed sliding screen door is the corner. After repeated opening and closing, stresses will cause the rollformed shape to loosen in the area of the corner. The door will then stick and jam and typically will require replacement rather than repair
The second type of aluminum screen door are extruded aluminum shapes, with aluminum frames made from thicker aluminum than rollformed doors. This makes an extruded aluminum door much stronger but also more expensive. Extruded aluminum screen door frames can be mitered and joined with aluminum alloy corners or can be notched out and joined together with screws that fit in screw holes made as part of the extrusion process.
Extruded aluminum screen doors are generally longer lasting than rollformed screen doors. They are also more easily repaired since, if the corners break, new corners can be inserted without losing the friction fit necessary to hold the door together.
Wood framed screen doors, hinged and sliding, are also available from limited production and custom carpentry sources, used for aesthetic style and sustainable building applications. Wood-framed screen doors were a fixture of many homes in the American South before air conditioning was common.
Various screen doors exist in the art, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,953 (Winner '953) discloses a screen door with four lineal door frame components, each of the lineal components has a cross-section defining an interior space extending in a longitudinal direction of the linear components. Four symmetric, L-shaped members are provided; each has a corner portion and two posts that extend from the corner portion at a right angle to one another. The posts each have a length and a plurality of fins extending therefrom along at least portions of the length. A metal reinforcement member is arranged in the hollow portion of the lineal components so as to extend substantially along the entire length of the lineal components and leave an empty portion of the hollow section at each end of the lineal components, which empty portions have a length equal to at least the length of the posts of the L-shaped body. The posts of the L-shaped members are mounted in the free hollow portions of the lineal components so that at least some of the fins engage an interior surface of the lineal components. (Abstract.)
However, Winner '953 lacks numerous elements of the current disclosure, including but not limited to, a screen affixment mechanism that covers a standing ridge of the substantially continuous spline, at least one mechanical tenon substantially entirely contained within the material of the at least one stile, and allowing for the mechanical tenon to be tightened or loosened via engaging the mechanical tenon via at least one access.
Another disclosure, U.S. Pat. No. 9,234,383 (Bruno '383) provides a modular door having at least one door panel, premanufactured stiles and at least two rails. The door is held together using rods optionally that may have at least one stabilizer that are inserted into channels formed within the door. (Abstract.) Bruno '383 also lacks numerous elements of the current disclosure, including but not limited to, a screen affixment mechanism that covers a standing ridge of the substantially continuous spline, at least one mechanical tenon substantially entirely contained within the material of the at least one stile, and allowing for the mechanical tenon to be tightened or loosened via engaging the mechanical tenon via at least one access.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,366,072 (Aguayo '072) discloses a buildable, collapsible and lightweight screen. The screen includes a frame constructed with at least two longitudinal profiles and at least two transverse profiles. The profiles have hollow extruded profiles and include at least one inner groove which runs along one side, in a longitudinal direction. Each of the profiles and one or more panels of sheet material are confined within the frame along the inside groove, and connectors align and fasten the longitudinal and transverse profiles by fasteners and connectors which act as intermediaries to avoid direct contact between these profiles. (Abstract.)
Aguayo '072 lacks many elements of Applicant's disclosure, including but not limited to, a screen affixment mechanism that covers a standing ridge of the substantially continuous spline, at least one mechanical tenon substantially entirely contained within the material of the at least one stile, and allowing for the mechanical tenon to be tightened or loosened via engaging the mechanical tenon via at least one access.
U.S. Pat. No. 355,969 (Boughton '969) discloses a screen door assembled via mortises and tenons and tongues ‘K’ that may be cut in order to size the door to various shaped door frames. Boughton '969, too, lacks many element of Applicant's disclosure, including but not limited to, a screen affixment mechanism that covers a standing ridge of the substantially continuous spline, at least one mechanical tenon substantially entirely contained within the material of the at least one stile, and allowing for the mechanical tenon to be tightened or loosened via engaging the mechanical tenon via at least one access.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,431,071 (Willhoite '071) discloses a screen door. The screen door frame is constructed of telescopic sections which have their inner edges rabbeted to provide a pocket for the marginal edges of a screen. Strips are received in the rabbeted portions and secured thereto for sustaining the screen on the frame and bridging the joints of the frame to effect in producing a light but strong and durable door construction. Willhoite '071 also fails to disclose various limitations of Applicant's disclosure. These include, but are not limited to, a screen affixment mechanism that covers a standing ridge of the substantially continuous spline, at least one mechanical tenon substantially entirely contained within the material of the at least one stile, and allowing for the mechanical tenon to be tightened or loosened via engaging the mechanical tenon via at least one access.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easily assembled screen door or adjustable assembly that forms a strong frame and requires minimal effort and tools to assemble and disassemble. Further, the current disclosure provides a novel means for joining joints and later tightening same in the door or assembly, if the joints later become loose.